Thank you everyone. :-)
Our littlest inspector left a really big hole. They're all special, the ones that come through our place, but some seem to take a bigger chunk of our hearts when they go.
I got some fabric for the border.... there *are* shades of black. :-) Depending on the scale of the white pattern, they can give a very different look. I've picked one that's very similar to several of the fabrics used in the blocks, it goes perfectly. And will be doing vines and leaves and maybe a flower or two in the bottom left, and top right corners.
I can't wait to get it finished!
And this has definitely set me off in a creative way again... given me faith in what I'm doing and the pictures I have in my head.
:-)